Stumbling on Happiness

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Stumbling on Happiness (2009, HarperCollins)

eBook

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2009 by HarperCollins.

OCLC Number:
607526016

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4 stars (1 review)

In this fascinating and often hilarious work – winner of the Royal Society of Science Prize 2007 – pre-eminent psychologist Daniel Gilbert shows how – and why – the majority of us have no idea how to make ourselves happy.We all want to be happy, but do we know how? When it comes to improving tomorrow at the expense of today, we're terrible at predicting how to please our future selves.In 'Stumbling on Happiness' Professor Daniel Gilbert combines psychology, neuroscience, economics and philosophy with irrepressible wit to describe how the human brain imagines its future – and how well (or badly) it predicts what it will enjoy. Revealing some of the amazing secrets of human motivation, he also answers thought-provoking questions – why do dining companions order different meals instead of getting what they want? Why are shoppers happier when they can't get refunds? And why are couples less satisfied …

12 editions

Ignore your brain.

4 stars

[My review of the 12min summary]

Daniel Gilbert is a social psychologist and professor at Harvard. He specializes in affective forecasting, which is the brain's ability to predict whether it will be a happy brain or a sad brain in the future.

This is a good book. It describes the ways your brain is incapable of predicting the future and remembering the past. Most people think that their memories are accurate. They're not! Stop believing that crap! Your brain is failing you! It's a bigger disappointment than your no-good son who dropped out of college and now plays video games in your basement.

Final Notes (quoted from 12min) "You are unable to predict the future correctly, or even to remember events accurately. Since the brain needs to economize, it automatically fills in details of past and future experiences, while leaving other details out. It is also incapable of accurately imagining …